The Missouri hot seat just got a little hotter.
As the MU men’s basketball team limped toward the close of a 73-61 loss to Kansas on Monday, a cheer rose from the 16,300 faithful at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Quin, you’re fired,” chanted the capacity Kansas crowd.
One would think Jayhawk supporters would be among Missouri coach Quin Snyder’s biggest fans. Snyder has never won in Lawrence. The Tigers haven’t won there since Jan. 14, 1999. Snyder has never beaten Kansas coach Bill Self, dating back to Self’s days as coach of Illinois.
Missouri hired Snyder instead of Self, who was interested in the Missouri job when it opened up after Norm Stewart’s departure in 1999. Five years later Self is coaching the team atop the Big 12 Conference, and Snyder, whose Tigers have never finished higher than fifth in league play, is fighting for his job as the calls for his firing have risen from the Missouri side of the border as well.
Ironically, Snyder built his credibility with Missouri fans by leading the Tigers to an 81-59 upset win against No. 7 Kansas in Columbia as a rookie coach in 1999-2000. But a sub-par season for Missouri (10-11, 2-5 Big 12), the NCAA investigation and subsequent sanctions, which will make future recruiting even more difficult, have largely eroded Snyder’s credibility with the fans.
Bernie Miklasz, a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, upped the ante Monday, challenging Missouri athletic director Mike Alden to either fire Snyder or risk his own job.
“Alden has refined political skills, so he must know what will happen if he retains Snyder,” Miklasz wrote. “Instead of fans hollering for the athletics director to fire the coach, they’ll be demanding a new AD.”
Alden was not available for comment Monday, but Snyder addressed the issue of his job security after the Kansas game.
“I’m concerned about the team, and my part in the team.” Snyder said. “Ultimately, I know I’m accountable. That’s not something that I’ll ever run from, and I do believe that we’ve got the makings of a good team. It hasn’t come as quickly as I’ve hoped, and I recognize that. I wanted this to be an unbelievable year, but things aren’t playing out that way right now.”
Despite obvious signs of impatience with this season’s losing record, Snyder’s players have rallied around their coach.
“The media don’t get people out of jobs,” freshman guard Jason Horton said. “That’s the media speculating. If you talk to anybody else, we’re confident that he’s going to be back. That’s the only coach I’ll play for at Mizzou.”
When pressed, Horton did add one interesting caveat.
“We still got a lot of work to do this season,” Horton said. “It ain’t time to pack it in and start talking about new coaches and stuff like that. I’m confident that he’s going to be here and that’s the only coach I’ll play for, right now.”
Jimmy McKinney, a junior guard, added that Snyder’s future at Missouri is the least of their concerns.
“We’re not worrying about that,” McKinney said. “We’re just trying to get some victories. We’re just trying to get him to lead us and really dial into what he says.”
— Missourian reporter Brandon Hoops contributed to this article.